TIBETANS, SUPPORTERS PROTEST CHINA’S PRESIDENT
AT UNITED NATIONS
New York, New York – Hundreds of Tibetans and their supporters protested at the United Nations Dag Hammerskold Plaza while China’s President Hu Jintao attended the Summit on Climate Change with global leaders. On September 23, 2009 Hu Jintao addressed the United Nations General Assembly, the first time China’s President had spoken at the U.N. in more than 30 years. The International Tibet Independence Movement (ITIM), represented by Mary-Kate Oreovicz of Bloomington, IN, joined the large protest organized by the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Students for a Free Tibet, Regional Tibetan Women’s Association, U.S. Tibet Committee, and Tibetan Community of NY/NJ. ITIM has never wavered from its mission of obtaining complete independence for Tibet, and understood the significance of being present at this momentous event. ITIM stands in solidarity with Tibetans inside Tibet whose dream is of an independent Tibet, and it was the goal of ITIM to make sure that the call for independence was presented clearly at the UN Plaza.
Hu Jintao traveled to the U.S. to address the United Nations in a continued effort to present China as a leader in the global effort on environmental policy and as a leader in the struggle to combat climate change and global warming. Upon his arrival, Tibetan rights groups highlighted the 60 years of China’s failed government policies in Tibet that have caused desertification on the grasslands, contaminated river and groundwater through unregulated mining, and persistent flooding in eastern China from clear-cutting Tibet's once pristine forests. For centuries, Tibetans lived in harmony with their environment, understanding and appreciating the balance of nature, taking only what was needed, and not exploiting their formally abundant forests, rivers, and grasslands. China's current policy of forcibly settling and re-locating Tibetan nomadic communities is of particular concern to Tibetans and supporters, as research has shown that traditional nomadic land use actually sustains and benefits the ecological health of the grassland ecosystems and water resources.
More than 150 Tibetan rights groups appealed to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and world leaders to press China on the escalating environmental crisis in all areas of Tibet at the Summit and in the lead up to the Climate Summit in Copenhagen this December. Protesters at Dag Hammerskold Plaza could be heard chanting slogans directed at the United Nations General Secretary: “Wake Up! Wake Up! Ban Ki Moon!”
“Decades have passed since Hu Jintao has shown his face in the Unites States. He is here today with stained hands, stained by the blood of countless Tibetans who have suffered under his repressive policies of torture and imprisonment in Tibet, as well as stained by rampant destruction of the environment across all areas of Tibet. Watersheds have been destroyed. Forests clear-cut with reckless abandon. We are here today to show the UN that China leads the world in causing global warming and negatively affecting the delicate balance of the earth’s systems. Major change in China will lead to major positive change in the global climate,” said Mary-Kate Oreovicz of the International Tibet Independence Movement.
“Today, President Hu Jintao is trying to win the world's favor by addressing global climate change at the United Nations, but Tibetans know the true reality of China’s politically motivated and destructive environmental policies, and we call on people of conscience to speak up for Tibet’s nomads, the stewards of Tibet’s fragile ecosystem,” said Tenden Dechen, Executive Coordinator of the Tibetan Youth Congress.
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